Mars Hill, Presbyterian, Wingate Runners Named to Cross Country Academic All-District First Team in Cross Country
June 3, 2006 (Updated)

Courtesy Mars Hill College, Presbyterian College Sports Information Offices

Jonathan Stoehr and Rachel Retallick, Mars Hill
MARS HILL, NC – A pair of cross country runners who excel in the classroom as well as on the course have been selected to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team track & field/cross country teams.

Mars Hill junior Jonathan Stoehr, a two-time All-Conference first team runner, and Mars Hill senior Rachel Retallick, an All-Conference runner, were also selected as the 2005 South Atlantic Conference Cross Country Scholar Athletes. Retallick won the award for the third year in a row.

Stoehr, from Antigo, Wisconsin, carries a 3.91 GPA as a Physical Education major. He was named to the All-Academic Team by the D-II Cross Country, Track and Field Coaches Association the last two years and is in the Honor Scholar program at Mars Hill and receives the Trustee Scholarship.

He earned First Team All-Conference honors his first two seasons, including being named Freshman of the Year in 2003. He was named All-Region in 2004. This season, he was named Runner of the Week on September 19 after he finished third overall out of 112 runners in the Wingate Invitational and was the first finisher from the South Atlantic Conference. He possesses the second-fastest time this year among SAC runners and third-fastest in the Southeast Region. He is also an accomplished Track and Field runner and broke the Mars Hill 5000 meter indoor record.

In the community, Stoehr is a role model for the DARE program and participated in Community Health Service Foundation projects and has been a volunteer track and cross country coach for Special Olympics. He serves as treasurer for the Student Government Association executive board. He is a musician in his church band, which visits local hospitals and nursing homes. He also served on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico.

Retallick is in her fourth season as a runner and carries a 3.95 GPA as a biology and chemistry major with a minor in Pre-Med. She is a three-time member of the All-Academic Team by the D-II Cross Country, Track and Field Coaches Association, and has been honored by Who’s Who Among American College Students as well as the Alpha Chi National Honor Society. She receives the Grayson Scholarship at Mars Hill, its most prestigious honor.

She is a three-time All-Conference selection, and twice was name All-Region. She was named SAC Runner of the Week twice this season.

Rachel is an active participant in both the community and church. She volunteers with Mountain Hopes, a therapeutic equestrian center for handicapped children, as well as Habitat for Humanity, Manna Food Bank and as a swimming instructor for the Special Olympics swim team. She also volunteers at St. Mission Joseph’s Hospital and the local Boy Scouts, as well as working with high school students with learning disabilities.

Matthew Elliott, Presbyterian College
Presbyterian College cross country runner Matthew Elliott has been named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District men's track & field/cross country first team announced today.

Elliott, a 5-8 junior from Green Sea, S.C. (Green Sea HS), was named to the first team after compiling three top two finishes, including winning the 2005 Francis Marion University Meet individual title. He earned All-South Atlantic Conference first team honors with a seventh place finish at the 2005 SAC Meet and was also named SAC Runner of the Week twice during the season.

In the classroom, he carries a cumulative GPA of 3.88, while majoring in early childhood education. He has been selected to the SAC Academic Honor for three straight years, while being named to the school's Dean's List (3.3 GPA) for five semesters, and to the President's List (4.0 GPA) for one semester.

This year, Elliott led Blue Hose men's team to six top 10 finishes in eight meets during the fall and a trip to the 2005 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Meet.

Elliott will now advance to the national ballot for Academic All-American consideration. Members of the Academic All-District team are determined by a vote by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) from District III.

Lindsay Boldt, Natalie Creech, Karen Porter, and Nick Stump, Wingate University
Wingate, N.C.----Four Wingate University cross country runners have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III track & field/cross country first team, selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). Three Wingate women made the 10-person first team.

Seniors Lindsay Boldt (Spring Hill, Fla.), Natalie Creech (Pennington Gap, Va.) and Karen Porter (Islamorada, Fla.) earned first team honors. On the men’s side, sophomore Nick Stump (Cary, N.C.) earned first team laurels. Boldt and Creech are repeat selections, as they both earned Academic All-District III first team honors in 2005.

District III (college division) includes all non-NCAA Division I schools (Division II, III and NAIA) in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North and South Carolina. The 20 first team selections (10 women, 10 men) move on to the national ballot for 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® honors.

Boldt was the first runner in school history to earn All-NCAA Division II Southeast Region honors, as she finished 12th in the 2002 women’s 6K race with a time of 24:46. During her career, she was All-Region two times and All-South Atlantic Conference three times.

In 2004, Boldt earned second team All-SAC honors for the third year in a row, as she ran 20:48 (5K) to finish ninth in the Food Lion SAC championships. Boldt was 11th in the 2004 NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals (hosted by Wingate) with a 6K time of 23:48, earning All-Regional honors for the second time in her career.

Boldt was only the third woman in school history to earn All-SAC honors in cross country. In 2005, her top times were 20:42 (5K, SAC championships) and 25:51 (6K, NCAA regionals at Wingate). Boldt carries a 3.66 GPA in her Sport Management major.

Creech was an All-South Atlantic Conference and All-Southeast Region performer three times each during her Bulldog career. She saved her best 2005 times for big races, turning in a 19:48 5K time at the Food Lion SAC championships and a 24:52 6K time in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals (hosted by Wingate).

In 2004, Creech finished second in the Food Lion SAC 5K meet with a time of 19:34. She finished eighth in the 2004 NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals (hosted by Wingate) with a 6K time of 23:17.

Creech won the 2003 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional women’s cross country meet in a time of 23:02 (6K) to earn regional Runner of the Year honors her sophomore season. She was the first runner (male or female) in school history to win an NCAA regional meet.

A first team All-SAC performer and team MVP in 2003, Creech ran a personal-best 19:19 (5K) to take third place in the Food Lion SAC championship meet on October 25, 2003. Creech sports a 3.56 GPA in her Communication Studies major. She has minors in Legal Studies and Art.

In the fall of 2005, Porter had a break-out campaign in only her second season of intercollegiate cross country. She was All-Southeast Region and All-South Atlantic Conference for the Bulldogs. Porter ran a 24:59 6K at the 2005 regional race to place 16th in a very tough field.

Porter clocked a 20:25 5K time to earn a spot on the All-SAC team on October 22, 2005. Both the 24:59 6K and the 20:25 5K times are her career-best efforts. In 2004, she ran a 22:06 5K at the Erskine Invitational and a 27:44 6K at the Wingate Invitational. Porter sports a 3.74 GPA in her English major.

Thanks to the efforts of Boldt, Creech, Porter and their teammates, the Wingate women made their first-ever trip to the NCAA national cross country championships in 2004.

Stump missed a spot on the All-Southeast Region team by 10 seconds in 2005. He ran a 35:07 10K to finish 18th in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional (hosted by Wingate) on Nov. 5, 2005. His top 8K time in 2005 was a 28:26 showing at the Erskine Invitational.

In 2004, Stump earned All-South Atlantic Conference and All-SAC Freshman team honors in his first year with the Bulldogs. He ran his best 8K time of the 2004 season (28:28) to finish 14th at the 2004 Food Lion SAC meet. Stump ran a 35:10 10K to finish 32nd at the NCAA regional race at Wingate (Nov. 6, 2004). Stump carries a 3.64 GPA in his Social Studies Education major.

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution offering students active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, faith development and community service.

Wingate offers more than 37 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, education and the doctor of pharmacy degree. Wingate University student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports.